The Air India flight from Delhi to San Francisco, which made an emergency landing in Russia’s remote town of Magadan after it developed an engine glitch, on Thursday took off for its destination with all the 232 passengers that were on board, according to an official.
Flight AI173 from Delhi was diverted to Magadan in Russia on Tuesday owing to an engine glitch, the Tata Group-owned private carrier said in a statement.
The Boeing 777-200 LR aircraft, carrying 216 passengers and 16 crew, landed safely.
Magadan is located on the shores of the Sea of Okhotsk in north-eastern Russia and falls under the administrative centre of Magadan Oblast. The port town is about 10,167 km from Moscow. It takes around 7 hours and 37 minutes to reach Magadan from Moscow by air.
All these 232 people have been put up in make-shift accommodations– school and dormitory of a medical college in Magadan.
Air India in its earlier statement had said that all the passengers and crew were provided “hotel accommodation”.
On Wednesday it said that “infrastructure constraints” forced it to lodge them in make-shift accommodations despite “making sincere attempts to lodge them in hotels locally with the help of local government authorities”.
It also said that Air India does not have a staff based in the remote town of Magadan or in Russia, and the support that is being provided to the passengers “is the best possible in this unusual circumstance”.
This support is being provided through the airline’s round-the-clock liaison with the Consulate General of India in Vladivostok, India’s Ministry of External Affairs, local ground handlers, and the “Russian authorities”, it said.
Air India also said it engaged with the local authorities at Magadan Airport that extended all cooperation and support upon the flight’s arrival there.
On Thursday, a senior official of Air India said that Flight AI173D from Magadan, Russia (GDX) is now airborne for San Francisco (SFO), carrying all passengers and crew.
The flight departed GDX at 1027 Hours on June 8 (local time) and is expected to arrive at SFO at 0015 Hours on June 8 2 (local time), he said.
UPDATE: AIR INDIA FLIGHT AI173D TAKES OFF FOR SAN FRANCISCO FROM MAGADAN
Flight AI173D from Magadan, Russia (GDX) is now airborne for San Francisco (SFO), carrying all passengers and crew. The flight departed GDX at 1027 Hours on 08 June 2023 (local time) and is expected to…
— Air India (@airindia) June 7, 2023
Air India has mobilised additional on-ground support at SFO to carry out the clearance formalities for all passengers upon arrival.
The team at SFO is prepared to provide all necessary assistance to the passengers, including but not limited to medical care, ground transportation, and onward connections in applicable cases.
